The history of China goes back to its ancient civilization – one of the world's earliest – that flourished in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, China's political system was based on hereditary monarchies, known as dynasties, beginning with the semi-mythological Xia of the Yellow River basin (c. 2000 BCE). Since 221 BCE, when the Qin Dynasty first conquered several states to form a Chinese empire, the country has expanded, fractured and been reformed numerous times. The Republic of China (ROC) overthrew the last dynasty in 1911, and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949. After the surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II, the Communist Party defeated the nationalist Kuomintang in mainland China and established the People's Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, while the Kuomintang relocated the ROC government to its present capital of Taipei.

The word "China" is derived from the Persian word Chin (چین), which in turn derives from the Sanskrit word Cīna (चीन).[28] It is first recorded in 1516 in the journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa.[29] The journal was translated and published in England in 1555.[30] The traditional theory, proposed in the 17th century by Martino Martini, is that Cīna is derived from "Qin" (秦), the westernmost of the Chinese kingdoms during the Zhou Dynasty.[31] However, the word was used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata (5th century BCE) and the Laws of Manu (2nd century BCE).[32][33]

The official name of the modern country is the People's Republic of China (Chinese: 中华人民共和国; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó). The common Chinese names for the country are Zhōngguó (Chinese: 中国, from zhōng, "central" or "middle", and guó, "state" or "states," and in modern times, "nation") and Zhōnghuá (Chinese: 中华), although the country's official name has been changed numerous times by successive dynasties and modern governments. The term Zhōngguó appeared in various ancient texts, such as the Classic of History of the 6th century BCE,[j] and in pre-imperial times it was often used as a cultural concept to distinguish the Huaxia tribes from perceived "barbarians". The term, which can be either singular or plural, referred to the group of states or provinces in the central plain, but was not used as a name for the country as a whole until the nineteenth century. The Chinese were not unique in regarding their country as "central", with other civilizations having the same view of themselves.[34]

Prehistory

Archaeological evidence suggests that early hominids inhabited China between 250,000 and 2.24 million years ago.[35] A cave in Zhoukoudian (near present-day Beijing) exhibits hominid fossils dated at between 680,000 and 780,000 BCE.[36] The fossils are of Peking Man, an example of Homo erectus who used fire.[37] The Peking Man site has also yielded remains of Homo sapiens dating back to 18,000–11,000 BCE.[38] Chinese proto-writing existed in Jiahu around 7000 BC,[39]Dadiwan from 5800 BC to 5400 BC, Damaidi around 6000 BC [40] and Banpo dating from the 5th millennium BC. Some scholars suggested Jiahu symbol(7th millennium BC) was the earliest Chinese writing system [39]

Early dynastic rule

According to Chinese tradition, the first dynasty was the Xia, which emerged around 2100 BCE.[41] However, the dynasty was considered mythical by historians until scientific excavations found early Bronze Age sites at Erlitou, Henan in 1959.[42] It remains unclear whether these sites are the remains of the Xia Dynasty or of another culture from the same period.[43] The succeeding Shang dynasty is the earliest to be confirmed by contemporary records.[44] The Shang ruled the plain of the Yellow River in eastern China from the 17th to the 11th century BCE.[45] Their oracle bone script (from c. 1200 BCE) represents the oldest form of Chinese writing yet found,[46] and is a direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters.[47] The Shang were conquered by the Zhou, who ruled between the 11th and 5th centuries BCE, though centralized authority was slowly eroded by feudal warlords. Many independent states eventually emerged from the weakened Zhou state and continually waged war with each other in the 300-year Spring and Autumn Period, only occasionally deferring to the Zhou king. By the time of the Warring States period of the 5th–3rd centuries BCE, there were seven powerful sovereign states in what is now China, each with its own king, ministry and army.

Imperial China

The Warring States period ended in 221 BCE, after the state of Qin conquered the other six kingdoms and established the first unified Chinese state. Qin Shi Huang, the emperor of Qin, proclaimed himself the "First Emperor" (始皇帝) and imposed reforms throughout China, notably the forced standardization of the Chinese language, measurements, length of cart axles, and currency. The Qin Dynasty lasted only fifteen years, falling soon after Qin Shi Huang's death, as its harsh legalist and authoritarian policies led to widespread rebellion.[48][49]

The subsequent Han Dynasty ruled China between 206 BCE and 220 CE, and created a lasting Han cultural identity among its populace that has endured to the present day.[48][49] The Han Dynasty expanded the empire's territory considerably with military campaigns reaching Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Central Asia, and also helped establish the Silk Road in Central Asia. Han China gradually became the largest economy of the ancient world.[50] The Han Dynasty adopted Confucianism, a philosophy developed in the Spring and Autumn period, as its official state ideology. Despite the Han's official abandonment of Legalism, the official ideology of the Qin, Legalist institutions and policies remained and formed the basis of the Han government.[51]

Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese technology and culture entered a golden age.[55] The An Shi Rebellion in the 8th century devastated the country and weakened the dynasty.[56] The Song Dynasty was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent standing navy.[57] Between the 10th and 11th centuries, the population of China doubled in size to around 100 million people, mostly due to the expansion of rice cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of abundant food surpluses. The Song Dynasty also saw a flourishing of philosophy and the arts, as landscape art and portrait painting were brought to new levels of maturity and complexity,[58] and social elites gathered to view art, share their own and trade precious artworks. The Song Dynasty saw a revival of Confucianism, in response to the growth of Buddhism during the Tang.[59]

In 1644, Beijing was captured by a coalition of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, a minor Ming official who led the peasant revolt. The last Ming Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide when the city fell. The Manchu Qing Dynasty then allied with Ming Dynasty general Wu Sangui and overthrew Li's short-lived Shun Dynasty, and subsequently seized control of Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing Dynasty.

End of dynastic rule

The Qing dynasty, which lasted from 1644 until 1912, was the last imperial dynasty of China. In the 19th century, the dynasty experienced Western imperialism following the First Opium War (1839–42) and the Second Opium War (1856–60) with Britain and France. China was forced to sign unequal treaties, pay compensation, allow extraterritoriality for foreign nationals, and cede Hong Kong to the British[63] under the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. The First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) resulted in Qing China's loss of influence in the Korean Peninsula, as well as the cession of Taiwan to Japan.[64]

On 1 January 1912, the Republic of China was established, and Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (the KMT or Nationalist Party) was proclaimed provisional president.[66] However, the presidency was later given to Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general who in 1915 proclaimed himself Emperor of China. In the face of popular condemnation and opposition from his own Beiyang Army, he was forced to abdicate and reestablish the republic.[67]

After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically fragmented. Its Beijing-based government was internationally recognized but virtually powerless; regional warlords controlled most of its territory.[68][69] In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek, was able to reunify the country under its own control with a series of deft military and political manoeuvrings, known collectively as the Northern Expedition.[70][71] The Kuomintang moved the nation's capital to Nanjing and implemented "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's San-min program for transforming China into a modern democratic state.[72][73] The political division in China made it difficult for Chiang to battle the Communists, against whom the Kuomintang had been warring since 1927 in the Chinese Civil War. This war continued successfully for the Kuomintang, especially after the Communists retreated in the Long March, until Japanese aggression and the 1936 Xi'an Incident forced Chiang to confront Imperial Japan.[74]

The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), a theatre of World War II, forced an uneasy alliance between the Kuomintang and the Communists. Japanese forces committed numerous war atrocities against the civilian population; in all, as many as 20 million Chinese civilians died.[75] An estimated 200,000 Chinese were massacred in the city of Nanjing alone during the Japanese occupation.[76] Japan surrendered unconditionally to China in 1945. Taiwan, including the Pescadores, was put under the administrative control of the Republic of China, which immediately claimed sovereignty. China emerged victorious but war-ravaged and financially drained. The continued distrust between the Kuomintang and the Communists led to the resumption of civil war. In 1947, constitutional rule was established, but because of the ongoing unrest, many provisions of the ROC constitution were never implemented in mainland China.[77]

Mao encouraged population growth, and under his leadership the Chinese population almost doubled from around 550 million to over 900 million.[82] However, Mao's Great Leap Forward, a large-scale economic and social reform project, resulted in an estimated 45 million deaths between 1958 and 1961, mostly from starvation.[83] Between 1 and 2 million landlords were executed as "counterrevolutionaries."[84] In 1966, Mao and his allies launched the Cultural Revolution, sparking a period of political recrimination and social upheaval which lasted until Mao's death in 1976. In October 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China in the United Nations, and took its seat as a permanent member of the Security Council.[85]

Political geography

The People's Republic of China is the second-largest country in the world by land area[105] after Russia, and is either the third- or fourth-largest by total area, after Russia, Canada and, depending on the definition of total area, the United States.[k] China's total area is generally stated as being approximately 9,600,000 km2 (3,700,000 sq mi).[106] Specific area figures range from 9,572,900 km2 (3,696,100 sq mi) according to the Encyclopædia Britannica,[107] 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the UN Demographic Yearbook,[6] to 9,596,961 km2 (3,705,407 sq mi) according to the CIA World Factbook.[8]

China's climate is mainly dominated by dry seasons and wet monsoons, which lead to pronounced temperature differences between winter and summer. In the winter, northern winds coming from high-latitude areas are cold and dry; in summer, southern winds from coastal areas at lower latitudes are warm and moist.[111] The climate in China differs from region to region because of the country's highly complex topography.

A major environmental issue in China is the continued expansion of its deserts, particularly the Gobi Desert.[112][113] Although barrier tree lines planted since the 1970s have reduced the frequency of sandstorms, prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices have resulted in dust storms plaguing northern China each spring, which then spread to other parts of East Asia, including Korea and Japan. China's environmental watchdog, Sepa, stated in 2007 that China is losing a million acres (4,000 km²) per year to desertification.[114] Water quality, erosion, and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries. Melting glaciers in the Himalayas could potentially lead to water shortages for hundreds of millions of people.[115]

China is home to at least 551 species of mammals (the third-highest such number in the world),[120] 1,221 species of birds (eighth),[121] 424 species of reptiles (seventh)[122] and 333 species of amphibians (seventh).[123] China is the most biodiverse country in each category outside the tropics. Wildlife in China share habitat with and bear acute pressure from the world's largest population of homo sapiens. At least 840 animal species are threatened, vulnerable or in danger of local extinction in China, due mainly to human activity such as habitat destruction, pollution and poaching for food, fur and ingredients for traditional Chinese medicine.[124] Endangered wildlife is protected by law, and as of 2005, the country has over 2,349 nature reserves, covering a total area of 149.95 million hectares, 15 percent of China's total land area.[125]

China has over 32,000 species of vascular plants,[126] and is home to a variety of forest types. Cold coniferous forests predominate in the north of the country, supporting animal species such as moose and Asian black bear, along with over 120 bird species.[127] The understorey of moist conifer forests may contain thickets of bamboo. In higher montane stands of juniper and yew, the bamboo is replaced by rhododendrons. Subtropical forests, which are predominate in central and southern China, support as many as 146,000 species of flora.[127] Tropical and seasonal rainforests, though confined to Yunnan and Hainan Island, contain a quarter of all the animal and plant species found in China.[127] China has over 10,000 recorded species of fungi,[128] and of them, nearly 6,000 are higher fungi.[129]

Environmental issues

In recent decades, China has suffered from severe environmental deterioration and pollution.[130][131] While regulations such as the 1979 Environmental Protection Law are fairly stringent, they are poorly enforced, as they are frequently disregarded by local communities and government officials in favour of rapid economic development.[132] Urban air pollution is a severe health issue in the country; the World Bank estimated in 2013 that 16 of the world's 20 most-polluted cities are located in China.[133] China is the world's largest carbon dioxide emitter.[134] The country also has water problems. Roughly 298 million Chinese in rural areas do not have access to safe drinking water,[135] and 40% of China's rivers had been polluted by industrial and agricultural waste by late 2011.[136] This crisis is compounded by increasingly severe water shortages, particularly in the north-east of the country.[137][138]

However, China is the world's leading investor in renewable energy commercialization, with $52 billion invested in 2011 alone;[139][140][141] it is a major manufacturer of renewable energy technologies and invests heavily in local-scale renewable energy projects.[142][143] By 2009, over 17% of China's energy was derived from renewable sources – most notably hydroelectric power plants, of which China has a total installed capacity of 197 GW.[144] In 2011, the Chinese government announced plans to invest four trillion yuan (US$618.55 billion) in water infrastructure and desalination projects over a ten-year period, and to complete construction of a flood prevention and anti-drought system by 2020.[137][145] In 2013, China began a five-year, US$277-billion effort to reduce air pollution, particularly in the north of the country.[146]

There have been some moves toward political liberalization, in that open contested elections are now held at the village and town levels.[159][160] However, the Party retains effective control over government appointments: in the absence of meaningful opposition, the CPC wins by default most of the time. Political concerns in China include the growing gap between rich and poor and government corruption.[161][162] Nonetheless, the level of public support for the government and its management of the nation is high, with 80–95% of Chinese citizens expressing satisfaction with the central government, according to a 2011 survey.[163]

Administrative divisions

The People's Republic of China has administrative control over 22 provinces and considers Taiwan to be its 23rd province, although Taiwan is currently and independently governed by the Republic of China, which disputes the PRC's claim.[164] China also has five subdivisions officially termed autonomous regions, each with a designated minority group; four municipalities; and two Special Administrative Regions (SARs), which enjoy a degree of political autonomy. These 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, and four municipalities can be collectively referred to as "mainland China", a term which usually excludes the SARs of Hong Kong and Macau. None of these divisions are recognized by the ROC government, which claims the entirety of the PRC's territory.

Under its interpretation of the One-China policy, Beijing has made it a precondition to establishing diplomatic relations that the other country acknowledges its claim to Taiwan and severs official ties with the government of the Republic of China. Chinese officials have protested on numerous occasions when foreign countries have made diplomatic overtures to Taiwan,[169] especially in the matter of armament sales.[170]

Much of current Chinese foreign policy is reportedly based on Premier Zhou Enlai's Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and is also driven by the concept of "harmony without uniformity", which encourages diplomatic relations between states despite ideological differences.[171] This policy may have led China to support states that are regarded as dangerous or repressive by Western nations, such as Zimbabwe, North Korea and Iran.[172] China has a close economic and military relationship with Russia,[173] and the two states often vote in unison in the UN Security Council.[174][175][176]

A meeting of G5 leaders in 2007, with China's Hu Jintao second from right

Trade relations

In recent decades, China has played an increasing role in calling for free trade areas and security pacts amongst its Asia-Pacific neighbours. In 2004, it proposed an entirely new East Asia Summit (EAS) framework as a forum for regional security issues.[177] The EAS, which includes ASEAN Plus Three, India, Australia and New Zealand, held its inaugural summit in 2005. China is also a founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), along with Russia and the Central Asian republics. China became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 11 December 2001.

In 2000, the United States Congress approved "permanent normal trade relations" (PNTR) with China, allowing Chinese exports in at the same low tariffs as goods from most other countries.[178] China has a significant trade surplus with the United States, its most important export market.[179] In the early 2010s, US politicians argued that the Chinese yuan was significantly undervalued, giving China an unfair trade advantage.[180][181][182] In recent decades, China has followed a policy of engaging with African nations for trade and bilateral co-operation;[183][184][185] in 2012, Sino-African trade totalled over US$160 billion.[186] China has furthermore strengthened its ties with major South American economies, becoming the largest trading partner of Brazil and building strategic links with Argentina.[187][188]

Territorial disputes

Map depicting territorial disputes between the PRC and neighbouring states. For a larger map, see here

In addition to claiming all of Taiwan, China has been involved in a number of other international territorial disputes. Since the 1990s, China has been involved in negotiations to resolve its disputed land borders, including a disputed border with India and an undefined border with Bhutan. China is additionally involved in multilateral disputes over the ownership of several small islands in the East and South China Seas, such as the Senkaku Islands and the Scarborough Shoal.[189][190] On 21 May 2014 President Xi, speaking at a conference in Shanghai, pledged to settle China's territorial disputes peacefully. "China stays committed to seeking peaceful settlement of disputes with other countries over territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests," he said.[191]

Emerging superpower status

China is regularly hailed as a potential new superpower, with certain commentators citing its rapid economic progress, growing military might, very large population, and increasing international influence as signs that it will play a prominent global role in the 21st century.[25][192] Others, however, warn that economic bubbles and demographic imbalances could slow or even halt China's growth as the century progresses.[193][194] Some authors also question the definition of "superpower", arguing that China's large economy alone would not qualify it as a superpower, and noting that it lacks the military and cultural influence of the United States.[195]

Rural migrants to China's cities often find themselves treated as second-class citizens by the hukouhousehold registration system, which controls access to state benefits.[203][204] Property rights are often poorly protected,[203] and taxation disproportionately affects poorer citizens.[204] However, a number of rural taxes have been reduced or abolished since the early 2000s, and additional social services provided to rural dwellers.[205][206]

The Chinese government has responded to foreign criticism by arguing that the notion of human rights should take into account a country's present level of economic development and the "people's rights to subsistence and development".[220] It emphasizes the rise in the Chinese standard of living, literacy rate and average life expectancy since the 1970s, as well as improvements in workplace safety and efforts to combat natural disasters such as the perennial Yangtze River floods.[220][221][222] Furthermore, some Chinese politicians have spoken out in support of democratization, although others remain more conservative.[223] Some major reform efforts have been conducted; for an instance in November 2013, the government announced its plans to the abolish the much-criticized re-education through labour program.[104] Although during the 2000s and early 2010s, the Chinese government was increasingly tolerant of NGOs that offer practical, efficient solutions to social problems, such "third sector" activity remained heavily regulated.[224]

Since economic liberalization began in 1978, China has been among the world's fastest-growing economies,[255] relying largely on investment- and export-led growth.[256] According to the IMF, China's annual average GDP growth between 2001 and 2010 was 10.5%. Between 2007 and 2011, China's economic growth rate was equivalent to all of the G7 countries' growth combined.[257] According to the Global Growth Generators index announced by Citigroup in February 2011, China has a very high 3G growth rating.[258] Its high productivity, low labour costs and relatively good infrastructure have made it a global leader in manufacturing. However, the Chinese economy is highly energy-intensive and inefficient;[259] China became the world's largest energy consumer in 2010,[260] relies on coal to supply over 70% of its energy needs, and surpassed the US to become the world's largest oil importer in September 2013.[261][262] In the early 2010s, China's economic growth rate began to slow amid domestic credit troubles, weakening international demand for Chinese exports and fragility in the global economy.[263][264][265]

In the online realm, China's e-commerce industry has grown more slowly than the EU and the US, with a significant period of development occurring from around 2009 onwards. According to Credit Suisse, the total value of online transactions in China grew from an insignificant size in 2008 to around RMB 4 trillion (US$660 billion) in 2012. The Chinese online payment market is dominated by major firms such as Alipay, Tenpay and China UnionPay.[266]

China in the global economy

China is a member of the WTO and is the world's largest trading power, with a total international trade value of US$3.87 trillion in 2012.[21]Its foreign exchange reserves reached US$2.85 trillion by the end of 2010, an increase of 18.7% over the previous year, making its reserves by far the world's largest.[267][268] In 2012, China was the world's largest recipient of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), attracting $253 billion.[269] China also invests abroad, with a total outward FDI of $62.4 billion in 2012,[269] and a number of major takeovers of foreign firms by Chinese companies.[270] In 2009, China owned an estimated $1.6 trillion of US securities,[271] and was also the largest foreign holder of US public debt, owning over $1.16 trillion in US Treasury bonds.[272][273] China's undervalued exchange rate has caused friction with other major economies,[181][274][275] and it has also been widely criticized for manufacturing large quantities of counterfeit goods.[276][277]

Graph comparing the 2013 nominal GDPs of major economies
in US$ billions, according to IMF data[278]

Class and income equality

China's middle-class population (if defined as those with annual income of between US$10,000 and US$60,000) had reached more than 300 million by 2012.[283] According to the Hurun Report, the number of US dollar billionaires in China increased from 130 in 2009 to 251 in 2012, giving China the world's second-highest number of billionaires.[284][285] China's domestic retail market was worth over 20 trillion yuan (US$3.2 trillion) in 2012[286] and is growing at over 12% annually as of 2013,[287] while the country's luxury goods market has expanded immensely, with 27.5% of the global share.[288] However, in recent years, China's rapid economic growth has contributed to severe consumer inflation,[289][290] leading to increased government regulation.[291] China has a high level of economic inequality,[292] which has increased in the past few decades.[293] In 2012, China's Gini coefficient was 0.474.[294]

Internationalization of the renminbi

Since 2008 global financial crisis, China realized the dependency of US Dollar and the weakness of the international monetary system.[295] The RMB Internationalization accelerated in 2009 when China established dim sum bond market and expanded the Cross-Border Trade RMB Settlement Pilot Project, which helps establish pools of offshore RMB liquidity.[296][297]

After repeated military defeats by Western nations in the 19th century, Chinese reformers began promoting modern science and technology as part of the Self-Strengthening Movement. After the Communists came to power in 1949, efforts were made to organize science and technology based on the model of the Soviet Union, in which scientific research was part of central planning.[309] After Mao's death in 1976, science and technology was established as one of the Four Modernizations,[310] and the Soviet-inspired academic system was gradually reformed.[311]

Modern era

Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, China has made significant investments in scientific research,[312] with $163 billion spent on scientific research and development (R&D) in 2012.[313] Science and technology are seen as vital for achieving China's economic and political goals, and are held as a source of national pride to a degree sometimes described as "techno-nationalism".[314] Despite the increase in research and development spending, the funding system is still not transparent and the proportion of the research budget being spent on basic and applied research is shrinking.[312] In 2011, China devoted 4.7 percent and 11.8 percent of its total R&D budget to basic and applied research respectively, a significantly lower percentage than leading technological powers such as the U.S. and Japan.[315] While Chinese-born scientists have won the Nobel Prize in Physics four times and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry once, these scientists all earned their doctorates and conducted their award-winning research in the West.[o]

China is rapidly developing its education system with an emphasis on science, mathematics and engineering; in 2009, it produced over 10,000 Ph.D. engineering graduates, and as many as 500,000 BSc graduates, more than any other country.[320] China is also the world's second-largest publisher of scientific papers, producing 121,500 in 2010 alone, including 5,200 in leading international scientific journals.[321] Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and Lenovo have become world leaders in telecommunications and personal computing,[322][323][324] and Chinese supercomputers are consistently ranked among the world's most powerful.[325][326] China is furthermore experiencing a significant growth in the use of industrial robots; from 2008 to 2011, the installation of multi-role robots in Chinese factories rose by 136 percent.[327]

The Chinese space program is one of the world's most active, and is a major source of national pride.[328][329] In 1970, China launched its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, becoming the fifth country to do so independently.[330] In 2003, China became the third country to independently send humans into space, with Yang Liwei's spaceflight aboard Shenzhou 5; as of 2015, ten Chinese nationals have journeyed into space, including two women. In 2011, China's first space station module, Tiangong-1, was launched, marking the first step in a project to assemble a large manned station by the early 2020s.[331] In 2013, China successfully landed the Chang'e 3 probe and Yutu rover onto the Moon; China plans to collect lunar soil samples by 2017.[332]

The 2000s decade and the beginning of the 2010s is also marked by China's transition from light to heavy industry and its focus on manufacturing.[333] Consequently China became the world's largest consumer of iron ore in 2003,[334] and during that time metal prices increased by about 8-fold.[333]

Infrastructure

Telecommunications

China currently has the largest number of active cellphones of any country in the world, with over 1 billion users by February 2012.[335] It also has the world's largest number of internet and broadband users,[336] with over 591 million internet users as of 2013, equivalent to around 44% of its population.[337] A 2013 report found that the national average internet connection speed is 3.14 MB/s.[338] As of July 2013, China accounts for 24% of the world's internet-connected devices.[339]

China Telecom and China Unicom, the world's two largest broadband providers, accounted for 20% of global broadband subscribers. China Telecom alone serves more than 50 million broadband subscribers, while China Unicom serves more than 40 million.[340] Several Chinese telecommunications companies, most notably Huawei and ZTE, have been accused of spying for the Chinese military.[341]

China is developing its own satellite navigation system, dubbed Beidou, which began offering commercial navigation services across Asia in 2012,[342] and is planned to offer global coverage by 2020.[343]

Transport

Since the late 1990s, China's national road network has been significantly expanded through the creation of a network of national highways and expressways. In 2011 China's highways had reached a total length of 85,000 km (53,000 mi), making it the longest highway system in the world.[344] In 1991, there were only six bridges across the main stretch of the Yangtze River, which bisects the country into northern and southern halves. By October 2014, there were 81 such bridges and tunnels.

China has the world's largest market for automobiles, having surpassed the United States in both auto sales and production. Auto sales in 2009 exceeded 13.6 million[345] and reach 40 million by 2020.[346] A side-effect of the rapid growth of China's road network has been a significant rise in traffic accidents,[347] with poorly enforced traffic laws cited as a possible cause—in 2011 alone, around 62,000 Chinese died in road accidents.[348] In urban areas, bicycles remain a common mode of transport, despite the increasing prevalence of automobiles – as of 2012, there are approximately 470 million bicycles in China.[349]

Demographics

A 2009 population density map of the People's Republic of China. The eastern coastal provinces are much more densely populated than the western interior

The national census of 2010 recorded the population of the People's Republic of China as approximately 1,370,536,875. About 16.60% of the population were 14 years old or younger, 70.14% were between 15 and 59 years old, and 13.26% were over 60 years old.[361] The population growth rate for 2013 is estimated to be 0.46%.[362]

Although a middle-income country by Western standards, China's rapid growth has pulled hundreds of millions of its people out of poverty since 1978. Today, about 10% of the Chinese population lives below the poverty line of US$1 per day, down from 64% in 1978. Urban unemployment in China reportedly declined to 4% by the end of 2007.[363] At present, urban unemployment rate of China is about 4.1%.[364][365]

With a population of over 1.3 billion and dwindling natural resources, the government of China is very concerned about its population growth rate and has attempted since 1979, with mixed results,[366] to implement a strict family planning policy, known as the "one-child policy." Before 2013, this policy sought to restrict families to one child each, with exceptions for ethnic minorities and a degree of flexibility in rural areas. A major loosening of the policy was enacted in December 2013, allowing families to have two children if one parent is an only child.[367] China's family planning minister indicated in 2008 that the one-child policy would be maintained until at least 2020.[368] The one-child policy is resisted, particularly in rural areas, primarily because of the need for agricultural labour and a traditional preference for boys. Families who breach the policy often lie during the census.[369] Data from the 2010 census implies that the total fertility rate may now be around 1.4.[370]

Population of China from 1949 to 2008

The policy, along with traditional preference for boys, may be contributing to an imbalance in the sex ratio at birth.[371][372] According to the 2010 census, the sex ratio at birth was 118.06 boys for every 100 girls,[373] which is beyond the normal range of around 105 boys for every 100 girls.[374] The 2010 census found that males accounted for 51.27 percent of the total population.[373] However, China's sex ratio is more balanced than it was in 1953, when males accounted for 51.82 percent of the total population.[373]

Ethnic groups

China officially recognizes 56 distinct ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Han Chinese, who constitute about 91.51% of the total population.[10] The Han Chinese – the world's largest single ethnic group[375] – outnumber other ethnic groups in every provincial-level division except Tibet and Xinjiang.[376] Ethnic minorities account for about 8.49% of the population of China, according to the 2010 census.[10] Compared with the 2000 population census, the Han population increased by 66,537,177 persons, or 5.74%, while the population of the 55 national minorities combined increased by 7,362,627 persons, or 6.92%.[10] The 2010 census recorded a total of 593,832 foreign citizens living in China. The largest such groups were from South Korea (120,750), the United States (71,493) and Japan (66,159).[377]

Urbanization

China has urbanized significantly in recent decades. The percent of the country's population living in urban areas increased from 20% in 1990 to over 50% in 2014.[382][383] It is estimated that China's urban population will reach one billion by 2030, potentially equivalent to one-eighth of the world population.[382][383] As of 2012, there are more than 262 million migrant workers in China, mostly rural migrants seeking work in cities.[384]

China has over 160 cities with a population of over one million,[385] including the seven megacities (cities with a population of over 10 million) of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Shenzhen, and Wuhan.[386][387][388] By 2025, it is estimated that the country will be home to 221 cities with over a million inhabitants.[382] The figures in the table below are from the 2010 census,[3] and are only estimates of the urban populations within administrative city limits; a different ranking exists when considering the total municipal populations (which includes suburban and rural populations). The large "floating populations" of migrant workers make conducting censuses in urban areas difficult;[389] the figures below include only long-term residents.

Education

Since 1986, compulsory education in China comprises primary and junior secondary school, which together last for nine years.[391] In 2010, about 82.5 percent of students continued their education at a three-year senior secondary school.[392] The Gaokao, China's national university entrance exam, is a prerequisite for entrance into most higher education institutions. In 2010, 27 percent of secondary school graduates are enrolled in higher education.[393] Vocational education is available to students at the secondary and tertiary level.[394]

In February 2006, the government pledged to provide completely free nine-year education, including textbooks and fees.[395] Annual education investment went from less than US$50 billion in 2003 to more than US$250 billion in 2011.[396] However, there remains an inequality in education spending. In 2010, the annual education expenditure per secondary school student in Beijing totalled ¥20,023, while in Guizhou, one of the poorest provinces in China, only totalled ¥3,204.[397] Free compulsory education in China consists of primary school and junior secondary school between the ages of 6 and 15. In 2011, around 81.4% of Chinese have received secondary education.[398] By 2007, there were 396,567 primary schools, 94,116 secondary schools, and 2,236 higher education institutions in China.[399]

As of 2010[update], 94% of the population over age 15 are literate,[400] compared to only 20% in 1950.[401] In 2009, Chinese students from Shanghai achieved the world's best results in mathematics, science and literacy, as tested by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a worldwide evaluation of 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance.[402]

Health

The Ministry of Health, together with its counterparts in the provincial health bureaux, oversees the health needs of the Chinese population.[403] An emphasis on public health and preventive medicine has characterized Chinese health policy since the early 1950s. At that time, the Communist Party started the Patriotic Health Campaign, which was aimed at improving sanitation and hygiene, as well as treating and preventing several diseases. Diseases such as cholera, typhoid and scarlet fever, which were previously rife in China, were nearly eradicated by the campaign. After Deng Xiaoping began instituting economic reforms in 1978, the health of the Chinese public improved rapidly due to better nutrition, although many of the free public health services provided in the countryside disappeared along with the People's Communes. Healthcare in China became mostly privatized, and experienced a significant rise in quality. In 2009, the government began a 3-year large-scale healthcare provision initiative worth US$124 billion.[404] By 2011, the campaign resulted in 95% of China's population having basic health insurance coverage.[405] In 2011, China was estimated to be the world's third-largest supplier of pharmaceuticals, but its population has suffered from the development and distribution of counterfeit medications.[406]

As of 2012, the average life expectancy at birth in China is 75 years,[407] and the infant mortality rate is 12 per thousand.[408] Both have improved significantly since the 1950s.[p] Rates of stunting, a condition caused by malnutrition, have declined from 33.1% in 1990 to 9.9% in 2010.[411] Despite significant improvements in health and the construction of advanced medical facilities, China has several emerging public health problems, such as respiratory illnesses caused by widespread air pollution,[412] hundreds of millions of cigarette smokers,[413] and an increase in obesity among urban youths.[414][415] China's large population and densely populated cities have led to serious disease outbreaks in recent years, such as the 2003 outbreak of SARS, although this has since been largely contained.[416] In 2010, air pollution caused 1.2 million premature deaths in China.[417]

A 2012 poll conducted by WIN/GIA found that 47% of Chinese self-identified as "convinced atheist".[428] Scholars have noted that in China there is no clear boundary between religions, especially Buddhism, Taoism and local folk religious practice.[420] According to the most recent demographic analyses, an average 30—80% of the Chinese population practice some form of Chinese folk religions and Taoism. Approximately 10—16% are Buddhists, 2—4% are Christians, and 1—2% are Muslims. In addition to Han people's local religious practices, there are also various ethnic minority groups in China who maintain their traditional autochthone religions. Various sects of indigenous origin comprise 2—3% of the population, while Confucianism as a religious self-designation is popular among intellectuals. Significant faiths specifically connected to certain ethnic groups include Tibetan Buddhism and the Islamic religion of the Hui and Uyghur peoples.

Culture

Since ancient times, Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by Confucianism and conservative philosophies. For much of the country's dynastic era, opportunities for social advancement could be provided by high performance in the prestigious imperial examinations, which have their origins in the Han Dynasty.[429] The literary emphasis of the exams affected the general perception of cultural refinement in China, such as the belief that calligraphy, poetry and painting were higher forms of art than dancing or drama. Chinese culture has long emphasized a sense of deep history and a largely inward-looking national perspective.[25] Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today.[430]

The first leaders of the People's Republic of China were born into the traditional imperial order, but were influenced by the May Fourth Movement and reformist ideals. They sought to change some traditional aspects of Chinese culture, such as rural land tenure, sexism, and the Confucian system of education, while preserving others, such as the family structure and culture of obedience to the state. Some observers see the period following the establishment of the PRC in 1949 as a continuation of traditional Chinese dynastic history, while others claim that the Communist Party's rule has damaged the foundations of Chinese culture, especially through political movements such as the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, where many aspects of traditional culture were destroyed, having been denounced as "regressive and harmful" or "vestiges of feudalism". Many important aspects of traditional Chinese morals and culture, such as Confucianism, art, literature, and performing arts like Peking opera,[431] were altered to conform to government policies and propaganda at the time. Access to foreign media remains heavily restricted; only 34 foreign films a year are allowed to be shown in Chinese cinemas.[432]

Today, the Chinese government has accepted numerous elements of traditional Chinese culture as being integral to Chinese society. With the rise of Chinese nationalism and the end of the Cultural Revolution, various forms of traditional Chinese art, literature, music, film, fashion and architecture have seen a vigorous revival,[433][434] and folk and variety art in particular have sparked interest nationally and even worldwide.[435] China is now the third-most-visited country in the world,[436] with 55.7 million inbound international visitors in 2010.[437] It also experiences an enormous volume of domestic tourism; an estimated 740 million Chinese holidaymakers travelled within the country in October 2012 alone.[438]

Cuisine

Chinese cuisine is highly diverse, drawing on several millennia of culinary history and geographical variety. The emperors of traditional China were known to have many dining chambers in their palaces, with each chamber divided into several departments, each responsible for a specific type of dish.[439] China's staple food is rice in the south, wheat based breads and noodles in the north. The diet of the common people in pre-modern times was largely grain and simple vegetables, with meat reserved for special occasions. Pork is now the most popular meat in China, accounting for about three-fourths of the country's total meat consumption.[440] Southern cuisine, due to the area's proximity to the ocean and milder climate, has a wide variety of fish and vegetables; it differs in many respects from the wheat-based diets across dry northern China. Numerous offshoots of Chinese food, such as Hong Kong cuisine and American Chinese food, have emerged in the nations that play host to the Chinese diaspora.

^According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the total area of the United States, at 9,522,055 km2 (3,676,486 sq mi), is slightly smaller than that of China. Meanwhile, the CIA World Factbook states that China's total area was greater than that of the United States until the coastal waters of the Great Lakes was added to the United States' total area in 1996. From 1989 through 1996, the total area of US was listed as 9,372,610 km2 (3,618,780 sq mi) (land area plus inland water only). The listed total area changed to 9,629,091 km2 (3,717,813 sq mi) in 1997 (with the Great Lakes areas and the coastal waters added), to 9,631,418 km2 (3,718,711 sq mi) in 2004, to 9,631,420 km2 (3,718,710 sq mi) in 2006, and to 9,826,630 km2 (3,794,080 sq mi) in 2007 (territorial waters added).

^China's border with Pakistan and part of its border with India falls in the disputed region of Kashmir. The area under Pakistani administration is claimed by India, while the area under Indian administration is claimed by Pakistan.

^Xi Jinping, 59, was named general secretary of the 82- million member Communist Party and is set to take over the presidency, a mostly ceremonial post, from Hu Jintao in March.[156]

^The national life expectancy at birth rose from about 31 years in 1949 to 75 years in 2008,[409] and infant mortality decreased from 300 per thousand in the 1950s to around 33 per thousand in 2001.[410]

^Whether or not Confucianism can be classified as a religion is disputed.[419]

^"Chinese Civil War". Cultural-China.com. Retrieved 16 June 2013. To this day, since no armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed, there is controversy as to whether the Civil War has legally ended.

^Eden, Richard (1555). Decades of the New World: "The great China whose kyng is thought the greatest prince in the world."Myers, Henry Allen (1984). Western Views of China and the Far East, Volume 1. Asian Research Service. p. 34.

^Liu, Lydia He (2009). The Clash of Empires: the invention of China in modern world making. Harvard University Press. pp. 77–78. ISBN9780674040298. Olivelle's evidence affirms that cīna is related to the Qin dynasty but leaves the precise nature of that linkage open to speculation.

^Qiu Xigui (2000). Chinese Writing. English translation of 文字學概論 by Gilbert L. Mattos and Jerry Norman. Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. ISBN 978-1-55729-071-7.

^Chinese Family Panel Studies's survey of 2012. Published in The World Religious Cultures issue 2014: 卢云峰：当代中国宗教状况报告——基于CFPS（2012）调查数据. p. 13, reporting the results of the Renmin University's Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) for the years 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2011, and their average. Note: according to the researchers of CFPS, only 6.3% of the Chinese are not religious in the sense of atheism; the others are not religious in the sense that they do not belong to an organised religion, while they pray to or worship gods and ancestors in the manner of the traditional popular religion.

^Steven F. Teiser. What is Popular Religion?. Part of: Living in the Chinese Cosmos, Asia for Educators, Columbia University. Extracts from: Stephen F. Teiser. The Spirits of Chinese Religion. In: Religions of China in Practice. Princeton University Press, 1996.

^ abAndré Laliberté. Religion and the State in China: The Limits of Institutionalization. On: Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 40, 2, 3-15. 2011. ISSN: 1868-4874 (online), ISSN: 1868-1026 (print). p. 7, quote: «[...] while provincial leaders in Fujian nod to Taoism with their sponsorship of the Mazu Pilgrimage in Southern China, the leaders of Shanxi have gone further with their promotion of worship of the Yellow Emperor (黄帝, Huangdi).»